


BEGIN TO CRESCENDO

by Ghost0



Series: The Boys Go To War [6]
Category: DCU (Comics), The Boys (TV 2019)
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:42:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26518426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghost0/pseuds/Ghost0
Summary: We check in with Becca and Ryan as they travel cross country with Harley Quinn. Oh, and something happens with Homelander and Stormfront, might lead to something big.
Series: The Boys Go To War [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1920046
Comments: 9
Kudos: 17





	BEGIN TO CRESCENDO

Ryan pushed the door open and stepped out of the RV. He had to block his eyes from the sun as he got adjusted to the brightness. Once he did, he looked around and saw all the others walking about. Some standing around and talking, others sitting at a few of the tables near the lake. He turned his head, trying to see if he could find his mom. His body jerked around as he felt something large push against his back. Turning around, he felt his muscles relax as he saw who it was.

“Look who finally decided to wake up!” The woman with pink and blue pigtails smiled at him, bringing her mallet back and leaning on it as the head was pressed against the ground. “I thought you accidentally took Mallory’s sleeping pills last night.”

“I guess I got a little excited yesterday.” He shyly smiled as he made an attempt to make eye contact. 

“That’s good! Plus, it shows I was right when I had us stop and check out that petting zoo.” She unzipped her red and black leather jacket, which matched her pants. Squatting down, she motioned her head towards the lake. “Wanna take a dip? I’m sure this lake doesn’t have any dangerous chemicals as a result of reckless corporate waste dumping.”

“I don’t know about that.” He looked towards the water. “I kind of want to try and do some fishing.”

“Probably safer.” She looked up and behind Ryan. “But let’s just check and see if it’s all right first.” Ryan turned around to see his mom. Her arms were crossed, but it wasn’t like before where she was tense. She smiled down at him as she saw that excited look in his eyes. Something she is glad to see in him.

“Can I mom? I’ll stay at that dock over there.” He pointed towards the dock near some of the tables that a few of the women they were travelling with were sitting. 

Becca looked over at Harley. “Do you even have any fishing gear? Or, I guess do any of these RVs that you ‘liberated’ have any?”

“You weren’t there when I was at the dealership. That guy was so rude, I just wanted to smash his- “

“I think there might be a rod in that one over there.” One of the nearby women told them, cutting off Harley before she let one slip in front of Ryan. “Yea, I think I saw it when I was moving things around looking for more towels.” Ryan turned back around and looked up at Becca. Smiling she nodded her head, Ryan rushing to go to the other RV. 

“He’s a good kid.” Harley commented. She studied Becca as she looked back and watched Ryan disappear into the recreational vehicle. “You know; I am a psychiatrist. Or was. You know, I don’t ever remember getting a letter saying my medical license has been revoked. Either way, you can talk about what’s eating at the little corners of your mind.”

“It’s nothing, but thank you.” She looked around at the people she had been spending the last few days with. Harley had explained that she came across this some kind of cult that had some superhero members, but also a lot of female members who seemed brainwashed into willingly serve as obedient wives for certain members. So she had a talk with the person in charge – and by guessing by the mallet she carries with her, probably an intense talk – and convinced these women to go on a journey of exploration. That guy dropped her off with them, leaving a phone with Harley. Turning around to meet Harley, she felt herself start to cry, laughing a little bit to lighten the mood. “Goodness, what the fuck is going on?” Harley pulled her in for a surprise hug, Becca being caught too off guard to hug back at first.

“Don’t go all tough and ‘I have no feelings anymore’ on me. I get what it’s like. At least a little bit.” As she pulled back, Becca stared back with a questioning look. Sighing deeply, she elaborated a little bit. “I fell for this guy a while back. At first, it was magical! My entire life changed and he and I painted the town red – both in blood and with actual paint. But it became clear he never really cared.” Harley looked out towards the water. “Every time I tried to leave, I ended up right back with him. Feeling trapped every time I feel like I was moving on and away. Luckily, I’m not stuck in that cycle anymore.” She reached out and rubbed Becca’s arm. “I’m sure whatever it is your dealing with – and you don’t have to tell me, I won’t pry – it’ll work out hun.” After she said that, a car came rushing into the patch of grass that their RVs were occupying. Turning around, they saw a familiar man in green step out and walk towards them.

“It’s about fucking time!” The Deep closed the door behind him and walked towards them. Harley widened her eyes as she saw him.

“Hey, Gillman! It’s been a while! Sorry I had to hit your head…several times. No hard feelings, right?”

“Uh, yea. A bunch of hard feelings.” Harley grinned a bit at the innuendo, which seemed to annoy him more. “You can’t go around and just kidnap people.”

“She didn’t kidnap them!” Becca called out. “Seems like your little religion is kinda fucked up if the women serve one purpose.”

“It’s not-“ The Deep took a minute to breath and try to calm down. “They joined of their own choice, agreeing to what the Church of the Collective asks from them. Now, I’m here to take them back and put you in jail.” He tried to walk forward, but stopped when he heard the voice of a boy.

“Stop!” Ryan called out, holding a fishing rod in his hand as he walked out and raced up to his mom and Harley. The Deep smiled and laughed at the sight of him.

“Now your kidnapping actual kids. You know what, I think I’m done with the Church, but I’m still taking you in. Now they will have no choice but to let me back.” He paused as he saw the boy’s eyes start to glow, but Becca held his shoulders and squeezed, trying to get him to stop. Harley stepped forward and held her mallet with both hands.

“We ain’t going anywhere mister! Going to have to kill me first!” The Deep, willing to take her on, got himself in the mindset. But before either could move, a giant green wall suddenly appeared, separating The Deep from the women. Ryan’s eyes returned to normal, looking up to see where it could have come from. A voice echoed down below.

“Word of advice. If a bunch of women are willing to kick your ass if the alternative is going with you, I think it’s pretty clear that you should walk away. A man dressed in green and with red hair floated above them. The green wall seemed connected to a bright beam that came from his fist. “Just some sage words from one charismatic asshole to an insufferable one.”

******

“Are they seriously covering this?” Thawne walked into the meeting room. His head turned towards the news on the wall, where a couple of reporters on the screen discussing their name change from The Seven to The Trinity. “Do they talk about you guys 24/7?”

“Basically, yea.” Stormfront had her feet on the table, looking at her phone and going through some platforms. “You get kind of used to it. But I still like to give them something to actually react to every now and then. Homelander stood and watched the news from the large windows behind the table. Thawne sat on the table just as Stan Edgar walked into the room.

“I did not approve of this.” Pointing towards the screen, his eyes were aimed right at Homelander as the doors closed behind him. “Why do you think this is a good idea?”

“For someone who once said that Vought isn’t in the superhero business, you sure care a lot for what we do.” Stormfront put her phone down, interested in seeing how this would play out. Homelander turned to face him, arms back in their usual spot behind him. “Noir, Translucent and A Train are dead, Annie is a traitor, The Deep is never coming back let’s be honest, and Maeve…she made it clear that she doesn’t want any part of us anymore. Which is fine. If you don’t like how we do things, you shouldn’t be a part of it.” Homelander flashed a grin. “But that does mean we have to change something to reflect all of this. Sure, the name doesn’t make us seem so open and inclusive, but considering the members we had, that is probably for the best.”

“I don’t care how you see things.” Stan coldly said. “All that matters is what I have to say. Now, the name will be changed back and I will find replacements for the other- “

He went from suddenly standing in front of the table facing all three of the remaining Supes to on his knees several feet away from them. He grunted and yelled out, pain pulsating throughout his torso. Thawne stood over him, reaching down and pulling him up by the collar. “Don’t worry, I made sure to punch all the spots where no one can see the bruises. Your still camera ready if you are needed in front of one.” Homelander walked around the table and got close to Stan, lowering his head to see his eyes.

“Why don’t you go back to your office? I’m sure you have a bunch of FDA rules to work around to get whatever new drug your trying to get to market.” Homelander glowed his eyes. Pulling him up fully to his feet, Thawne let Stan go and grinned devilishly at the man in charge of Vought. All he could do was stare, before turning around and walking through the opening doors. 

Turning to face the speedster. “I can handle him. I don’t need you to throw punches unless I say so.”

“Sorry, ‘boss’. Just giving you a helping hand.” He winked at the Supe before walking out himself. Breathing heavily through his nose, Stormfront stood up from her chair and looked over at him.  
“Clearly, you have been hiding something from me for the past, oh, several weeks now. Mind filling me in?”

He didn’t respond. Like the others, he walked out, leaving Stormfront behind him. Thinking things over in her head, she decided to follow him and finally get some answers.

******

She groaned as she regained consciousness. Her hand reached up and rubbed her forehead. Maeve forced herself to sit up, her back pressed up against what felt like a concrete wall. Opening her eyes, she first checked her leg. It was wrapped up in a bandage, with nothing bleeding out. She figures, combined with the fact that she is awake right now, means that she’ll be fine. But then she noticed something on her other leg. Some sort of rope wrapped around her calve and ankle. Following it, her eyes reached the holder of the rope. Her outfit was pretty damn similar to her own, but with admittedly more color. She sat on a different cot across from her, looking at her.

“Your awake. That’s good, it means the treatment worked.” Maeve looked around, seeing Annie and that Hughie off to the side, by the stairs. Starlight was here to see if she was right to trust Maeve in bringing Maeve here. Hughie was mainly here because he didn’t want to be around Billy right now. He cooled down, but only barely. But he also wanted to know what exactly is going on with Homelander and The Seven, and from what has been explained, it seems like they would be able to get some straight answers.

“Where am I?” Maeve turned back to the woman across from her. “And why do you dress like me?”

“My name is Diana. We are in a safe place, where I have been assured that no one would be able to find us. As for the look, my best guess is that we are variations of each other but from different Earths.”

“Hold up. Are you seriously telling me you’re from a different reality?” She couldn’t help but smirk at that.

“It’s true.” Annie spoke up, getting Maeve’ attention. “Bunch of them have been popping up. Where do you think that Thawne guy came from?”

“Honestly, I don’t care. Left before I even met him.” Maeve told her. She looked at all them, figuring out why they are here. “I get it. Save my life but now I have to give you information that you want.”

“You are not a prisoner, but a guest.” Diana said. “Is there anyone who might be looking for you right now? Anyone who would be concerned?”

“Maybe Elena, but I have been dodging her calls recently because I’ve been scared to talk to her.” Maeve’s eyes widened in horror to hear the words come from her mouth. She noticed a glow coming from the rope wrapped around her leg. Annie and Hughie were also very surprised by her open response.

“Holy shit, that does actually work?” Hughie asked. 

“The lasso compels anyone bound by it to tell the truth.” Diana explained. “I’m sure we can get in contact with Elena soon if that’s what you want. Now, is there anyone looking for you that might want to harm you?”

Maeve tried to keep her mouth shut. But she felt a burn radiating from her tied up leg. She tried fighting it for a little bit longer, but gave in and answered the question. “I would guess Homelander. All though, I think we both made it clear that I have no interest in coming back and that he is completely fine with it. Probably thinking of ways of how I’m gone could benefit him now.”

“I’ve been told a little about him. From Annie and from the others.” Diane motioned with her head to the two standing to the side. “It seems like he has been manipulating you and others for quite some time.”

“Yea, but so were so many at Vought. That you get used to.” Maeve held her arms. “What’s different about Homelander is…” Again, she tried to fight back, but this lasso was really getting inside her head and pushing her to continue. “He’s…brutal and doesn’t care. He will do things that make even some at Vought uncomfortable. But I guess that one of the worst things he has done was when he didn’t do anything.”

“What do you mean?” Diane asked Queen Maeve. She closed her eyes, really trying to fight it. Pushing back, not wanting to speak about this. But she got overwhelmed, the spell or whatever it was winning and releasing the tension in her muscles in an effort to get her comfortable enough to open up.

“There was that plane. It was starting to go down as it was over the ocean. Homelander and I showed up and tried to save them. He said that they couldn’t do anything after he took a closer look.” Maeve felt a tear start to form and roll down her cheek. “Even if we couldn’t save all of them, we could have tried to get some, a few, anyone! But he said it was better to let them all die, to…use its place over international water as a reason to make sure the deal with the military would go through.” Maeve closed her eyes and tried to fight back some tears. Diana stood up and walked towards. Getting down, she embraced Maeve and hugged her close, who found herself hugging back. Annie and Hughie turned around and let them think they are by themselves. 

“Holy…” Hughie didn’t feel right finishing that, considering what the following word was.

“Yea. I honestly thought that that whole international legality thing was the truth.” Annie said. “I had no idea! Hughie, you got to- “

“Yea yea, no. I believe you.” He nodded. “But man, that is…we have to push harder. Find a way to go at him directly now.”

“With what Hughie?” Annie asked him. “We have no way of taking him out, not like it’s an option based on Batman’s rules. And even if they can beat him, what kind of prison would hold him? Would anyone actually believe that or any of the actual things he has done? Maybe after A Train there are a few people more willing to believe, but still.” Hughie could only exhale in frustration.

Up above, in the computer room, Batman stood in front of the computers and listened to Tim Drake explained how he came across them. “I found myself inside a bakery two days ago. Thankfully it was closed, so I didn’t have to explain what just happened. When I got out, I came across these guys, carrying these chemicals inside a car. I recognized them as some of the ones Joker would use to make his gas. So I’ve been trailing some of the routes various members have been using across town until I could pinpoint the most likely spot he would be using.”

“Smart thinking.” Batman responded. “But why is that the first thing Joker decided to do once he showed up?” He stared at all the information that Hughie and Starlight had gathered over the past few days. 

“You really think that Joker has some connection to this Vought company? Maybe he might be the one telling this Homelander psycho to let loose a bit.” Tim commented.

“When Joker pushes someone to do something, he tries to push them all the way. This is more controlled and methodical.” Batman kept staring at the screens.

“Well, I think I should go out there and see what the general mood is. You should have a talk with that Billy guy sooner or later.” Tim started to walk away, but Batman had one last thing to say.

“Tim.” He stopped and looked at his mentor. He straightened up and looked at Tim. “It’s good that you found us. Better to know where everyone is.”

Tim smiled, knowing that as far as sharing feelings go, that’s pretty big from Bruce. “Good to be a part of the boys.” He walked back out, Batman turning his attention back and trying to figure out the next moves.

******

“I don’t think I have ever seen your room before.” Stormfront looked around, looking at the wall behind his bed. “I was expecting a giant portrait of you in some heroic pose right there. The only one who can watch over you while you sleep is yourself.”

“What do you want?” He turned towards her.

“Well, an explanation of basically everything. But let’s start with this ‘alliance’ thing you once mentioned to me a few weeks ago.” Stormfront stepped closer. 

“If I thought you needed to know, don’t you think I would have told you by now?”

“No, because you like to be the one in charge of everything. The most important person who must stand alone.” She grinned as was even closer now, looking up at him. “Must get you pretty tense, huh? And even now, you can only allow yourself to release so much out in the public eye. How about instead of dreaming about ripping people in half…” Her hand reached up and grabbed his face. It was hard to read his expression, but the fact he wasn’t moving was something she took as a good sign. “…you let yourself release it by doing something equally as fun?” She pulled his head down, tasting his lips. 

At first, Homelander wasn’t quite sure how to respond. The arrogance to think that he would be interested…but who is he fucking kidding? He kissed back, but it was with much more intensity and aggression. But she was more than ready to match him, softly laughing and wrapping her arms around him. The outfits that are so iconic in the eyes of the public were torn off at super speed, the bed now having to support two people with practically equal strength and durability. It became a struggle between the two to find out who was more dominant. Grabbing her hair and pulling her head back while she was on her hands and knees…pinning him down as she sat on top of him. She even used some of her more electric powers to bring in an element of sweet pain to increase the sensations. He found that she was right, that this was a good way to release the anger and stress that had been building inside of him for nearly a month. Screams and moans filled the room, the sound of their bodies embracing each other bringing them to a very satisfying conclusion. 

Stormfront’s head leaned back against the wall, breathing heavily. Homelander’s head rested on her lap, under her breasts, not quite breathing as hard as her. “SO, I have to ask…is it more fun fucking Vought or fucking me?” Homelander chuckled at the question, finding himself more at peace than he had been for a while.

“You were pretty good. Great even.”

“Wow, must be high praise.” Stormfront said. “Now how about we get to talking shop?” And with only the slightest pause of hesitation and thought, he told her. About the bald man that Stand Edgar had hidden away, about the origin of Black Adam and the man who claimed he was The Flash. As he told her, he moved his body, also now resting his back against the wall. Stormfront seemed to be processing this relatively well.

“So we have literal fucking aliens now?” She asked.

“Well no, they are still technically alien. But they are from a different planet, so I guess the description applies.” He balled his hands into fists as he thought about them. “I’ve been playing a game but I’m on a team that I know will try and steal the power that I hold away from me. Fuck, I bet that’s why he liked the idea of me killing A Train. Probably trying to find a way to discredit me in public and get people swayed towards them. I need to do something to show them that I am still in charge here.”

“Let me in on some of that. I mean, I know they have been technically with us so far, but I wouldn’t mind tearing them down before they have the chance to do it. But you would probably need to be in a position where they can’t get at you directly and right away.”

It was with those words that an idea came to Homelander. He smiled and laughed at the simplicity of it. Stormfront raised an eyebrow at him, who told her what needs to be done.


End file.
